Blizzard has announced an upcoming event that will see its multiplayer shooter Overwatch 2 celebrate the popular space western anime series Cowboy Bebop.
The collaborative crossover event kicks off in-game on March 11, and will add new Cowboy Bebop-inspired skins, emotes, highlight intros and more to Overwatch 2.
Confirmed character skins include Spike Spiegel Cassidy, Faye Valentine Ashe, Jet Black Mauga, and Ed Sombra. An Ein Wreckingball skin will be free for all players to unlock.
Working with anime studio Sunrise, Blizzard showed off stylized artwork of these characters, promising to reveal the in-game skins on March 11.
“We’re honored to be collaborating with one of the most respected anime series of all time in Cowboy Bebop,” Overwatch 2 Associate Director Aimee Dennett said. “This collaboration is a wonderful way to pay homage to the legendary stories, art, animation, and music of the Cowboy Bebop series. We hope its fans and our players have as much fun with what we’re bringing to Overwatch 2 as we did in creating it.”
This is Overwatch 2's second anime collab. The first was last year with One Punch Man and brought fan-favorite characters like Saitama, Genos, Terrible Tornado, and Mumen Rider.
While the specific details of the Cowboy Bebop in-game event have not been fully revealed, the previous One Punch Man event required players to complete challenges to unlock free cosmetics. The event also ran for about a month in-game.
Overwatch 2 is a sequel and replacement of 2016's hero shooter, which took the world by storm. The team-based first-person shooter sees two teams compete for various objectives in competitive 5-v-5 multiplayer matches. Those interested in the upcoming Cowboy Bebop can download Overwatch 2 for free on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Meanwhile, Cowboy Bebop is a Japanese neo-noir space Wester. Created by Sunrise, the series follows the lives of a traveling crew of bounty hunters aboard the spaceship Bebop. The series ran for 26 episodes.
The anime was adapted into a live-action series which debuted on Netflix in 2021. Unfortunately, the 10-episode series was largely panned by critics. Netflix ultimately canceled the series after just one season, leaving the series on a cliffhanger.
Thankfully, those unfamiliar with the source material can find the entire Cowboy Bebop anime on Crunchyroll in select territories.
Are you excited about the upcoming Overwatch 2 x Cowboy Bebop collaboration? Sound off in the comments!